Tomorrow, Google is expected to announce two new smartphones. The Pixel and Pixel XL. The rumor mill has been pointing towards these devices being made by HTC. However, that wasn’t the original plan. According to Android Police, Huawei was in line to make this year’s Nexus devices – before they were renamed to “Pixel”. Reportedly, the string that broke the camel’s back was when Google wanted no partner logos on their upcoming devices. That was when Huawei turned them down, and Google looked elsewhere, only to find HTC.
Earlier this year, you may remember a few stories about Huawei creating the Nexus devices this year, including an exec in South Africa saying that they were indeed making the Nexus this year. Which may have been true, but ultimately, it’s not happening. HTC was basically Google’s “plan B” here, and they got the contract to make the new smartphones. The Huawei-made Nexus 6P was widely regarded as the best Nexus device ever, and it sold very well – for a Nexus. Huawei and Google did also market the device fairly heavily when it launched last year, however Huawei was not too happy with how it launched.
Huawei saw the Nexus 6P as a way for them to get into the US and sell their phone on all four carriers. However, talks with the carriers broke down, as they inevitably would, and no carriers sold the device last year. It was a Google Store exclusive for a short while, before Amazon, B&H Photo and others started selling the device. While there was plenty of marketing for the Nexus 6P, it seems that the full plan – at least from Huawei’s perspective – never came true. Now there is a rumor that Google and Huawei may be working on a “Nexus” tablet for Andromeda, which would make a bit of sense, since Nexus will likely still sport the partner’s logo. Something that appeared to be a big deal for Huawei.
What is also interesting here is that this report notes that Huawei may be making a smartphone for Google in 2017. Google has put out calls to manufacturers to build a mid-range phone for 2017. They also mention that this may not be a Pixel-branded smartphone. They didn’t specifically mention that it could be running Adromeda, but it’s very likely. Since the other devices slated to run that OS are also expected to be released in 2017.
The company has struggled for quite some time in the US. A big part of this is due to the allegations of Huawei using smartphones to spy on users, for the Chinese government. Which has been proven to be untrue. Now this report is also suggesting that Huawei is struggling in the US, and their own products aren’t selling well at all. Which would include the smartphones from Huawei’s own sub-brand, Honor. Like the Honor 5X (too soon to tell if the Honor 8 will be a flop too). Even Huawei’s MateBook isn’t doing well in the US, which is here to compete with the Microsoft Surface – and is cheaper than the Surface. Most of the US arm of Huawei has been replaced in the past few months, with the majority of this division now being made up of Chinese executives. The reason why this is an important part of this story, is because these executives know little to nothing about the US market, which is much different from the Chinese market.